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James BurgessAshburn City Council

James Burgess for Ashburn City Council

THE ASHBURN COMEBACK PLAN
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The Ashburn Comeback Plan

The Ashburn Comeback Plan

The roadmap

Small wins now. Big plans on a schedule.

This is not a four-year agenda. Naming the long work is the point — a town that plans in four-year pieces gets four-year results, and then starts over.

← Back to the plan

First 90 days · 12 commitments

First 90 days — Find out and fix cheap

Count what we have. Publish what we find. Do every small visible thing that doesn't need a budget line. This phase is unglamorous on purpose — you cannot plan around a town nobody has measured.

  1. 1.1Who Does What, and How to Get Something FixedKnow Your City
  2. 1.2How to Show UpKnow Your City
  3. 1.3Tell You When I LoseKnow Your City
  4. 1.7A Scorecard for This Whole PlanKnow Your City
  5. 2.1Audit the Youth Resource CenterOur Young People
  6. 3.1Publish the Condition ListOur Neighborhoods
  7. 7.1You'll Know Before and AfterRunning City Hall Right
  8. 7.2Posted Hours You Can Find MeRunning City Hall Right
  9. 7.3Get the Audits Caught Up, and Keep Them on TimeRunning City Hall Right
  10. 7.5Show up to the Regional CommissionRunning City Hall Right
  11. 7.6Where the City's Money Goes, in Plain EnglishRunning City Hall Right
  12. 8.2Listen to Business Owners, the Ones Who Left and the Ones Still HereBusiness, Downtown, and I-75

First year · 30 commitments

First year — Build what the counting earned

Turn documents into funded things. Grants land or they don't, and we say which.

  1. 1.4A Town Hall Before the Budget, not AfterKnow Your City
  2. 1.6One List of Who's Already HelpingKnow Your City
  3. 2.3Build it on Partners, not One OrganizationOur Young People
  4. 3.3Find Out What's Driving Your Water BillOur Neighborhoods
  5. 3.4A Cleanup Schedule for the Whole CityOur Neighborhoods
  6. 3.7Get People from Renting to OwningOur Neighborhoods
  7. 3.8A Plan for Housing People Here Can AffordOur Neighborhoods
  8. 3.9Work with the Housing Authority, not Around ItOur Neighborhoods
  9. 3.10Don't Wait for the Sewer Plant to FailOur Neighborhoods
  10. 3.12Ditches That Drain Before the Next Big RainOur Neighborhoods
  11. 4.1A Maintenance Standard for our ParksParks, Health, and Recreation
  12. 4.2A Condition Assessment on All Five ParksParks, Health, and Recreation
  13. 4.4A Safe Place to WalkParks, Health, and Recreation
  14. 4.7Publish What Healthcare Actually Exists HereParks, Health, and Recreation
  15. 4.10A Way Back for People in RecoveryParks, Health, and Recreation
  16. 5.1Help our Veterans Get What They've EarnedOur Elders and Veterans
  17. 5.2A City Update That Reaches EverybodyOur Elders and Veterans
  18. 5.5Help Older Folks Keep the Homes They OwnOur Elders and Veterans
  19. 6.1Publish Response TimesPublic Safety
  20. 6.2Stop Training Officers for Other CitiesPublic Safety
  21. 6.3Grant Funding for our Police DepartmentPublic Safety
  22. 6.4Light the Dark StreetsPublic Safety
  23. 6.5Loose Dogs and Stray AnimalsPublic Safety
  24. 6.6Stronger Fire Protection for Every HousePublic Safety
  25. 7.4Build a Grant PipelineRunning City Hall Right
  26. 7.8Strong Leaders and Staff at City HallRunning City Hall Right
  27. 7.9Ask the State How it Can HelpRunning City Hall Right
  28. 7.10Tell You Before Your Taxes Go UpRunning City Hall Right
  29. 8.1Put our Development Authorities Back to WorkBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
  30. 8.6Follow the Hotel-motel TaxBusiness, Downtown, and I-75

Years 2–4 · 21 commitments

Years 2–4 — The rest of the term

The work that needs a budget cycle behind it, and the programs that only run once the foundation exists.

  1. 1.5Civics for our StudentsKnow Your City
  2. 2.2An Operating Plan, and the Doors OpenOur Young People
  3. 2.4Young People at the TableOur Young People
  4. 2.5A Paid Summer Work ProgramOur Young People
  5. 2.6Childcare Parents Can Count OnOur Young People
  6. 3.2A Repair Schedule, not a Complaint LineOur Neighborhoods
  7. 3.5Publish a Land InventoryOur Neighborhoods
  8. 3.6Fix What's Still StandingOur Neighborhoods
  9. 3.11Count Who's Sleeping Outside, Then HelpOur Neighborhoods
  10. 3.13Every Part of Town Gets Its Fair ShareOur Neighborhoods
  11. 4.5A Community Garden That ExistsParks, Health, and Recreation
  12. 4.6A Farmers MarketParks, Health, and Recreation
  13. 4.8Make the Transportation we Have Actually WorkParks, Health, and Recreation
  14. 4.9Bring the Care We're Missing to TownParks, Health, and Recreation
  15. 5.3Somewhere to Be, not Just Somewhere to LiveOur Elders and Veterans
  16. 5.4Veterans Mentoring our Young PeopleOur Elders and Veterans
  17. 7.7A Technology AuditRunning City Hall Right
  18. 8.3Put Teeth in our OrdinancesBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
  19. 8.4The Exit and Downtown Are One ProblemBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
  20. 8.7Better Jobs for the People Already HereBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
  21. 8.8Find Where the Internet Drops OffBusiness, Downtown, and I-75

Years 5+ · 2 commitments

Years 5+ — The long haul

The things that take longer than one term. Naming them honestly is the point — a town that plans in four-year pieces gets four-year results and then starts over.

  1. 4.3Rehabilitate the Parks, One at a TimeParks, Health, and Recreation
  2. 8.5Bring Downtown BackBusiness, Downtown, and I-75

Paid for by James Burgess